Category Archives: Game Diary

Apr 15 2014
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Game Diary

Difficulty in Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls

I have a few friends who play Diablo 3, but as far as I know none of them have racked up the hours I have. But I know I’m not one of the leet hardcore players.

I hit level 60 with my Witch Doctor a long time ago. I got a few Paragon levels. Then I got a Barbarian up to 54 and cooled off for a while.

Then Blizzard updated the PC version of the game to Loot 2.0 (a week before Reaper of Souls) — and they offered first 50% XP bonus and then 100% XP bonus. I put the this on my calendar. My wife sent me a few texts about it.

I got new armor and weapons for my Witch Doctor. I got my Barbarian up to 60.

Then Reaper of Souls went live and I started playing with my Witch Doctor. The game set my difficulty level to Master, which is above Expert but below Torment 1. On the way to Malthael, the (SPOILER) final boss of Act V, I died two or three times and hit level 70. Malthael was a wall. I couldn’t get near him, and I couldn’t stand still. So I just ran around the map, avoiding him. I let my (four) Zombie Dogs and my Gargantuan beat up on him, but the guy is a damage sponge. The first time, I got maybe 25% of his health down and then I died. I respawned in town, repaired my gear, and went back at it. This time, I knocked maybe 90% of Malthael’s life off, and died.

Frustrated, I knocked difficulty down to Expert and took another shot. On Expert, with my level 70 Witch Doctor, Malthael was so easy I could have beaten him with my eyes closed.

With Act V completed, I unlocked Adventure mode. I did five bounties and one Nephalem Rift. I enjoyed it, but I decided I wanted to beat Malthael on Master, and that meant I needed better gear. Adventure Mode was the best place to get gear, but if I wanted really good stuff I would need to up the difficulty. And if I made it through all but the final boss of the campaign on Master, maybe I should try Torment 1.

So I did.

Torment 1 is challenging, but it’s not a death sentence. It’s not even as much of a problem as Malthael on Master. Odeg the Keywarden spawned. It took time, but I beat him, and I never felt particularly worried about dying. Mostly I ran wore down large groups of normal enemies, and if I ran into an elite/group of elites, I backtracked into areas I had cleared, hit them, and repeated. It worked.

I didn’t get to a Nephalem Rift in Torment 1 (yet) just because it took so long to get one bounty. I got some Legendary stuff but nothing that looked particularly helpful against Malthael.

So here’s the thing.

Why was I able to breeze through Act V on Master but then got my butt kicked by Malthael? And why was Malthael a breeze on Expert if I could barely touch him on Master? And why are bounties on Torment 1 easy — if slow — if Malthael on Master was more or less untouchable?

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Sep 02 2013
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Game Diary

Dishonored Game Diary Part 3

Batman: Arkham Asylum. Another game that Dishonored shares attributes with. “Dark Vision” in Dishonored is practically identical to “Detective Mode” in Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. Enemies are highlighted and — once it’s upgraded, Dark Vision will show a control panel, the device it controls, and the wires in between. In this case, functionality is exactly like Detective Mode.

Might as well have called it “Dark Knight Vision.” Snap!

Still enjoying the game, although it feels a bit slow. I’m trying not to kill anyone, though. Could be a factor. Also when I do kill someone or someone spots me, I load my last save.

So maybe the slowness thing is my fault. Should I just start offing people to get through the game faster? I’ll consider it.

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Aug 20 2013
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Game Diary

Dishonored Again

There are zombies!

They’re called “creepers,” but they’re definitely zombies.  This adds to the game’s similarity to Thief games.  (Did Thief 2 or 3 have zombies?  It’s hard to remember.)

During my last play session in Dishonored, while waiting for NPCs to move through their patrols, I found myself thinking that Dishonored really scratches my Thief itch.  Now that I have this game, I may never go back to the old Thief games.

Also, as you kill more people in Dishonored, more creepers will appear in future levels.  That’s pretty interesting, and something I don’t recall hearing about the game. Perhaps the fact that I slept on it has allowed me to go in cold, which isn’t a bad thing.

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Aug 20 2013
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First Impressions, Game Diary

Dishonored

I’m late to the game on Dishonored.

Developer Arkane Studios just released the third piece of DLC for the game, and this prompted me to play for the first time.  I’ve been missing out.

Dishonored is different than I expected.  I’m struck by the art style — from the setting, the proportions of the characters, the fonts — and the degree of realization of the game world. I’m impressed, and I like it.

Dishonored is like a combination of Thief, Bioshock, and Skyrim.

After completing a mission in Dishonored, a summary screen lists things like how many collectables were found, how much money was found, how much chaos was caused.  Two checkboxes are also included — they show if the player got through the level without killing anyone, and if they player got through without being detected at all.

When I played the first two Thief games years ago, summary screens didn’t show information like this, but people talked about them in the forums.  Some even suggested that, in a game with bow arrows, the “real” way to play the game was to avoid all detection and leave no trace whatsoever.

While playing Dishonored, objects in the world that the player can interact with highlight in gold.  The same effect is present in the Bioshock games and the Thief games.

The game world also contains audio diary devices that draw immediate comparison to devices in the Bioshock games.

Finally, Dishonored contains books that the player can read.  The closest comparison I can find is to books in Skyrim.  Thankfully, the font in Dishonored is much easier to read.

I’m not sure I’d say I’m hooked, but I’m as committed to finishing this game as I can get.  (If that sounds like waffling, see my other new blog, Dad Blog.) I may add more.

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